Forgotten Strands
by divine one
Summary: Damon realizes that Bonnie has used a spell - a non-migrainey spell -on him
1. I'm Waking Up

So, yes, I know I have another Bamon piece out here that I haven't finished, but, well I don't particularly LIKE that piece... I like this one. :) This will be a 2 or 3 parter at most.  
Prolly PG13.  
No warnings, disclaimer on profile... not beta'd... Uh... yeah... that's it.

* * *

Every spell that a witch casts is attached to her. It clings to her like strands of a spider's web. Gossamer, invisible, but indelibly attached. These strands remain imbedded in the witch's skin... attached to her hands, to her legs, her soul... her heart.

Some strands are thicker, more intricate than others...

Some last for just the length of time that the spell exists...

Some last until the witch dies...

And some spells... some of them will last until the world ends.

The first time Bonnie Bennett cast a spell, she **felt** the power of her magic coursing through her veins, taking the place of her blood. And when she finished uttering the spell... when the magic in her veins had been replaced by blood again, she felt magic become a part of her. She felt the first silken strand of 'magic' attach itself to her fingertips.

A witch becomes use to the feeling of these strands... she gets use to being clothed in invisible silk; every piece in its' place... the _dress_ she wears becoming more intricate, more beautiful with every word... every wave of her hands.

Yes, a witch gets use to wearing a second skin.

And she notices when a strand - a strand that was there – breaks.

This morning, Bonnie felt a strand evaporate. She didn't know which strand it was... what spell it represented, but she felt it stretch, tense, and then... she felt it break away and fade to nothing.

She sat up in her bed, uselessly trying to find what '_had been_'; trying to figure out what she had lost control of.

She didn't figure out what spell had broken until a half hour later, when the incessant knocking at her door dragged her out of bed, and she opened the door and saw him standing there.

DBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDB

It pierced him like a knife laced with vervain; intense, vivid, and penetrating. The memories cut through him so sharply that he crushed the tumbler that was clutched in his hand; shards and drops of crystal and scotch raining onto the floor.

He cursed... not from the glass imbedded in his hand, but from the realization that he'd been living a lie... And that that lie was all a little, self-sacrificing, witch's fault.

Leaving the boardinghouse without uttering a word to the concerned Caroline and Stefan, he headed to his witch's home.

And that was just it, she **was** HIS witch.

DBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDB

"Damon." The word was barely out of her mouth before he had pushed over the threshold and pulled her against him.

He held her desperately, harshly... his little bird... and he stared down at her... re-memorizing her features. He knew them, of course, as an acquaintance...as a frenemy... as a friend... but he now remembered that he also **knew** her face as a lover knows a lover's face.

He knew her eyes, her adorable nose, her saint-tempting lips. He knew all of her.

And she'd made him forget it all with a spell...

As he lowered his lips to hers he half-threateningly promised, "When I'm done kissing you, I'm going to kill you."

DBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDB

She had missed this.

Missed being held by him. Being enveloped by him...

In the short time that they had had together, she had learned that Damon did everything wholeheartedly. He hunted with his whole being, he hated with his whole being, he hugged and caressed with his whole being. Everything Damon did, he did with his whole body, his whole soul. So when he touched her, when he kissed her, he did it with all of him.

She had missed all of Damon.


	2. I'll Be Your Happy Little Secret

It started with the hug.

… well that's not exactly true, it started with the first time he saw her.

Nutmeg and almonds, with big hazel eyes.

He was distracted by the 'memories' and beauty that was Elena, but that didn't mean that he didn't see Bonnie.

He did.

He would have to have been blind to not see Bonnie's beauty.

And despite opinions to the contrary, he was damn observant.

So, yes, she'd intrigued him from the first.

With her myrrh and jasmine scent, and the energy that just... edged and danced along her skin, it was amazing that every vampire within a five mile radius of her didn't go into heat.

But, other than Baby Gilbert, and perhaps the pussy-ass professor, it seemed that Damon was the only one who saw his witch's worth.

Of course, recognizing that Bonnie was a special little witch didn't equate to acting on that knowledge; not when there was Katherine, and her doppelganger, and sibling rivalry to be focused on.

So he spent years, trying to thwart his brother's relationship with Elena; trying to recapture his illusion of a relationship with Katherine/Elena.

And one hug undid it all.

He played it cool for a while. Telling people that he stayed behind on the island because he knew Elena would want it.

He told Elena that. Told Stefan and Caroline that. He even told Bonnie that.

Everyone believed him.

Everyone believed his reasoning... everyone except for Damon himself.

Only he knew that he stayed behind because he'd had a sudden overwhelming vision of what life without his little witch would be like.

She was smart, witty, beautiful, and no one - not even Stefan - called him on his shit the way Bonnie did.

But, perhaps most importantly, Bonnie was loyal... she was unswervingly, unremittingly, and singlemindedly loyal to those she loved.

Much like him.

Through the years, in between all of the _Judgies_ and the _Witchies_ and the bitterly sharp migraines, Damon had seen Bonnie's loyalty on display. Again, and again, and again.

He'd come to the silent conclusion that while her loyalty was often times misplaced, it was nonetheless, admirable.

He knew that if she ever **gave** herself to someone - admitted to loving that person wholeheartedly - and if she ever felt that the love she gave was mirrored, she would never, ever, renounce that love. She'd never let that love go. She would never have eyes for another.

Damon... Damon had been looking for a love like that his whole life.

It was the only kind of love he wanted.

It was the only kind of love **he** knew how to give.

(())

He didn't have a label for what he was feeling, and he couldn't explain why he suddenly found his witch so delectably enticing, but he was 'feeling things' and he was definitely enticed.

So enticed, that in the week following 'the hug' he found himself watching Bonnie, silently trailing after her like some sort of fucking lost puppy.

He thought he was being a _stealthy_, lost puppy, but apparently, he wasn't.

"Okay! Enough. What do you want Damon?!" Bonnie spun around in the woods and unerringly faced the tree he was 'hiding' behind.

He casually strolled out from behind the tree, "The whole world doesn't revolve around you Bon Bon. A vampire can take a walk around the woods without an ulterior motive."

She tilted her head to the side. "Sure he can, but he can't go to the Grille, the library, the grocery store AND the woods at the same time as I do without there being an ulterior motive." She put her hands on her hips. "_Bon Bon_ repeats: What do you want Damon?"

He gave half a seconds thought to the question of whether he had really followed her around to all of those places. Realizing the answer to that question was 'yes' he shied away from the question of 'why'. "The pleasure of your company?"

She gave a short bark of laughter and turned her back to him, continuing her journey further into the woods.

He followed.

She sighed. "Seriously Damon, is this a new form of torture on your part? Kind of a Chinese water torture... you just follow me around everywhere in the hopes of wearing me down to nothing?"

He moved so that he was in front of her, blocking her passage.

"Move."

"No." He stepped closer, "I know why you're not with little Gilbert, and fortunately, you're not with Professor Evil... but there are a lot of men in the world, a lot of men in Mystic Falls even, who **have** to recognize you're a catch." He watched her eyebrow raise – the sudden change in topic and his unexpected compliment catching her off guard. "Why aren't you with someone?" He let his eyes slide appreciatively down, then back up her frame. "You're a good person. A little uptight but good." He paused then produced that patented Damon smirk. "Although, you'd probably be a helluva lot less uptight if you were getting some regularly."

Bonnie rolled her eyes at him and groaned. "Really? You've been following me around because you wanted to suggest that I get laid?"

"Well, honestly, I was just wondering **why** you don't have a boyfriend or mate or something, but yes, I'm pretty certain you'd be happier if you were getting laid more than once a year."

Putting her hand on his chest, she pushed her way around him. "First, my sex life," _or lack thereof _she added silently, "Is none of your business. Secondly, are you forgetting that we live in the most magical place on earth? 'Witches, Vampires, Werewolves... oh my!' Once you find out about the things that go bump in the night in Mystic Falls, it's awfully hard to avoid being involved with them. And unless you're suggesting I chase after Klaus or Kol... my options for, uh, partners is pretty limited." Her voice dropped, "It wouldn't be very fair to ask Joe Schmoe to be my 'steady' when I constantly have vampires breathing down my neck."

"Klaus? Kol?! No... I definitely would never recommend you choose one of them as a bed mate." He sped in front of her, bringing her to an abrupt halt again. "They'd have no idea how to handle you."

He could almost see the question flit across Bonnie's eyes. She was wondering if he was flirting with her. Not that it had never happened before... he flirted with everything... he would flirt with a door if he was in the right mood. But, this time, this flirting... felt a little different to her.

Bonnie and Damon were alone, in the woods, and he had been surreptitiously following her around for days...

And then, of course, there had been the hug.

When she saw him, on the island, and realized he had stayed behind to look for her; she had never been so happy to see anyone before in her life.

And then he had hugged her.

Frenemies, friends, enemies... whatever they were... they didn't touch much. But being hugged by him, at that moment, had made her so... happy. Ridiculously happy. Stupidly happy. Unreasonably happy.

She had packaged, and wrapped, and tied that happiness up and tucked it in a corner of her brain... a corner marked 'things that must not be examined'. And then she had done her best to ignore that package.

But Damon had made it quite challenging for her to forget it. What with his always being around... and his looking at her... and his... his... recommending she get laid... maybe by him.

She shook her head imperceptibly and pushed the package back into its corner, and then she peered up at Damon. "Oh, yes, right, because Damon Salvatore is the best in the world... at everything... including bedding women." Her tone was dry, she put her hand on his chest so that she could again, push past him, "So sorry that I forgot."

She was half way past him, when she felt his hand ghost along hers, halting her movement.

"How about an agreement Bennett?"

She didn't pull her hand from his, but she didn't turn around either. "An agreement?" As she struggled to keep her heartbeat at a steady tempo, she wondered if her voice sounded as breathless to Damon as it did to her.

"You're free. No Jeremy or professor or," he unabashedly sniffed at the air around her, "anyone else taking up your time. And I'm unencumbered."

She silently muttered, 'f_or the moment'_.

He leaned closer to her, his mouth bent to her ear, "I am so much better when I'm with someone... I'm kinder, I don't kick small puppies, or ogle young girls."

She could feel him smiling against her neck.

"And when I'm satiated... I'm definitely much less blood-thirsty. And you... you little Bon Bon ,you could take the edge off – off of everything. I could be your secret... no one would know that for a second, a moment... an hour or two... every week... every day... that you were thinking about yourself... and making yourself happy." He moved his nose along her hair. "I could make you happy Bon."

"Elena -"

"Is with Stefan.

"But she -"

"Made her decision, again, and is with Stefan." He pulled her in toward him, her back to his chest, and he carefully... gently, wrapped an arm around her waist. "I could be your good deed Bonnie. You keep me entertained... and all of Mystic Falls will be a safer place. You would get paid in two ways... all those altruistic feelings for saving the town from the evil that is me," he said the words tongue in cheek, "and you get to be taken care of. I'll keep you happy. I'll be your happy little secret."

His hand rested just beneath her breasts. And he could feel her heart beat... he could hear it beat. He wasn't positive if the increase in pace was due to her wanting him... or simply due to the fact that she was a witch, and he was a vampire, and he had her in his arms. But he was almost positive that he'd be writhing on the ground in mind numbing pain if she wasn't at least a little interested in his offer.

When he climbed out of his bed this morning, it hadn't been in his plans to proposition Bonnie Bennett. At least it hadn't consciously been a part of his plans. But it also hadn't been a part of his plans to follow her around like a duckling chasing after it's mother for the better part of a week. And it hadn't been a part of his plans to hug her when he found her on the island. And it hadn't been in his plans to stay behind on an island to protect his witch while everyone else ran off to safety.

But if there was one thing he'd learned during his moderately long existence, it was that life had a great way of fucking up your plans.

Sometimes for the worse.

Sometimes for the better.

He pulled her closer and using his free hand, he moved the hair away from the side of her neck.

He felt her frame tense, and then almost immediately he felt her relax.

He inhaled her myrrh and jasmine and he realized that he could quite probably get hard simply from her scent. Letting his lips touch her ear he pushed a little further, "For once in your life, Little Witch, say yes. Say yes to something you want. Even if it's simply because you want it."


End file.
